Up until now, all my adventures at the mall had been isolated incidents. I went there, had some fun, came home and life stayed the same. This time was quite different. It impacted the entire mall and life wouldn't be the same again.

First of all, Lovitt and Brenneman and everyone else involved were arrested and convicted of fraud and extortion. There was also a big article in the newspaper about the conspiracy. I begged them to leave my name out, and they did. Instead, Captain Donner got most of the credit. I was identified as an anonymous tipster. However, everyone in the mall knew it was me and I was getting job offers all over the place. I remained faithful to Mr. Thompson.

There was also a huge shakeup in mall management. Eileen Charman was given control of Macy's again, and she divvied it up amongst several consciences and trusted board members. The Donner family was almost given a big bonus: Fred remained the main man in mall security, Victoria became head of the baby department and worked alongside her daughter Ebony. Lamar came home from college and worked in the men's department. After Mr. Thompson retired, Jaquan took over the store and made me a full time assistant manager. Even little Richie got a job: working on the advertising end of Kidmania.

Speaking of Kidmania, the exposure of the scandal proved to be a saving grace for it. Chad felt he had nothing to hide and made the store public. We crossed our fingers that we wouldn't be shut down and booed at. Instead, the opposite happened. We got an influx of customers that were looking exactly for this type of place. Chad was so overjoyed at the business he was getting that he instituted 'free diaper day.'

I myself remained fairly low key. I held down two jobs and a relationship at age 16 with no problem. I remained a receptive friend and a halfway decent little brother, as Leeann put it. I was no hero, just a nice guy.

I continued to go out with Christina for another year or two. Once we were no longer scared and trusted each other, we had a lot of fun together. While she eventually stopped having accidents entirely, she didn't mind at all that I still wore diapers and continued to change them for me. We did eventually break up, but remained close friends.

When I was 17, I went away to college, and I hated it. Life was mundane, boring and difficult. I spent much of my time studying and the rest of it doing nothing. I desperately missed the mall. I couldn't even wear diapers because the guy I shared the dorm with was an asshole and I'd never hear the end of it when I found out. All that hard work did amount to something, as I graduated with a degree in business.

What does one do when one finishes college anyway? Go out an celebrate? After all, you've just earned a weapon to better ready for the world. So why not get drunk and have some fun. Not that type? Fine, go home and see your family and friends, catch up on old times. Oh yeah, and while your at it, be sure to check out the local mall, see how much it's changed. I know I will.

Conclusion

If your wondering what happened after college, I'll be glad to fill you in. I went through a few jobs, a few more relationships, and watched as friends, family, and things of the past slipped away. I now needed diapers more then ever. I missed wearing them as both a child and an adult and they brought back many fond memories for me.

When I was 27, I met some old friends of mine: Felicica and Normie. "Steve, aren't you ever going to grow up?" she asked me playfully while I was sitting on a park bench.

"It's been awhile."

"Yes it has."

"How are you?"

"I'm good."

"I'm vice president of Kidmania nowadays," said Normie. "We've gone national and I can't complain."

"So I take it you still wear diapers?"

"Always, man."

"By the way, how's Christina?"

"She got married," said Felicia. "Then divorced. Lately, she's been pretty depressed."

"That makes two of us."

One thing led to another, and I ended up on a date with Christina. We were glad to see each other and had a lot of fun. This led to several repeat performances until I finally proposed to her. She agreed, and we went out to celebrate.

About 2 months before the wedding it hit me that I may have finally found a piece of life that I can call mine. I was at Felicia's house with Christina, Norm, and Felicia's husband Mark. We were all watching very old home videos. All of them had Normie running around in his diapers. Some of them even had him being changed by his sister or cousin. Though he was turning shades of red and purple upon watching this now, he looked pretty happy in the video.

There were also shots of Christina when she was younger, and she wore diapers in some of them. She wasn't as obvious about it as Normie, but you could tell if you looked.

"Hey, I've always wondered something," I said to Felicia. "Your brother has worn diapers all his life, your husband and cousin are both former bedwetters. How come you're the only one in the family not affected by this thing?"

"Guess I'm lucky."

"Wait a minute," Norm said. He dug up an old photograph of when he was about two. He and Felicia were both playing in a playpen, and both were diapered.

"Damn, I thought I burned that," Felicia said. "And now that your going to be part of this family, are you going to be wearing diapers again?"

"One step ahead of you," I said and pulled down my pants revealing my diapers.

"I think the baby needs changing," said Christina, and she changed my wet diaper right on the floor. Oddly enough, It didn't feel weird at all.

After the wedding, life was a bit tough. I pooled together my finances and made some wise investments, and pretty soon I became worth quite a bit. It then became clear what I must do. I made a proposal to J. Cullough, current owner of the mall, and he accepted my bid. The mall was mine. My destiny had been reached.

At the age of 35, I live close to Fairfield, and work at my prized possession quiet often. Kidmania has since expanded and Macy's has become tolerable. I am also able to get some celebrities to visit every so often. No scandals, no junk proprietors. Just a place where people can buy what they want without a hassle.

When I'm not at the mall, I'm at home with my family. I have 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls), of which only 1 (my oldest girl) hasn't been affected by the family trait. My other daughter and my oldest son are both bedwetters, as is Christina. My youngest son and I share something in common: we are both in diapers full time. "There's no rush to get out of them," I tell him from time to time. Yup, no rush at all, especially when at the mall.

The following is an excerpt from the memoirs and observations of Steve Mattel as recorded in his diary (yes, he had a diary that nobody knew about until he published it)

Excluding Kidmania, its customers and its staff, there are still a great number of diaper wearing kids. Definitely more then people think. Most of them are secretive about it, but a well-trained eye can detect the obvious bulge and listening carefully, you can hear a crinkling or crackling sound emitted by disposable diapers or plastic pants.

Most of the diaper wearers have been boys rather then girls. Though it is probable and one can freely speculate that these kids wear diapers for medical reasons, it is also possible to interpolate otherwise. I have heard bits and pieces of many conversations, and see the same scenarios over and over again. A pattern is emerging.

In some cases, boys are put into diapers by their parents. Sometimes, this is purely as a punishment, and other times it is a remedy to a weak bladder. A lot of these kids seem very unenthusiastic and reluctant to be wearing diapers after such incidents. Yet they do return after awhile, and they seem much happier, as they have adapted nicely to their new diapered life.

There are others who are not so fortunate. There are those who must hide not only the diapers they wear but their desire to wear them as well. I'd seen a few nervous teens crept into the pharmacy and browse at the diaper isle, before and attack of guilt and paranoia drive them out. A few of these confused brave souls are able to override those attacks, grab a big of Attends, make a purchase, and walk out a whole lot happier. Hurrah to them!

There have been a few boys that just seem to wander around wearing diapers. They seemed perfectly undisturbed by the attention around them and act as if the thick material covering them belongs there. These kids have probably worn diapers all their lives and will continue to do so without hesitation.

I can only recall a few instances where I have seen a girl wearing a diaper. I recall one 6 year old with a noticeably thick diaper under her dress. It crinkled as she walked through the mall, her mother holding her hand. I also recall a group of teenage girls hanging out and gosling. "Are you wearing a diaper?" asked one. This attracted my attention, and I could see the outline of a diaper against the girl's jeans. "Yeah, I ran out of tampons," she answered somewhat embarrassed.

In addition to all these kids, there are the clientele of Kidmania, who are usually frequent diaper wearers. Even the staff wears diapers as well. This has become the #1 store for diaper wearers, adult babies, infantilists, teen babies, vintage video game and comic book collections, and purveyors of wackiness in America. And I was there when it started. Though the owners (Chad, Sam and Normie) no longer run day to day operations in this day and age, the do make the frequent visit, both as client and customer.

I can't really explain why kids wear diapers. Some find it arousing, other have to, other still just want to be young again. My initial reasons were purely accidental, but they have now evolved into all of the above 3. It is no great mystery why after all this time I continue to wear them. After all, I'm successful, I'm not under stress, I have a sex life, and I'm not incontinent. So why do I wear them? As Yankees 3rd baseman Scott Brosius once said about not replacing his battered yellow glove: don't trade in the mitt that got you there. Well thanks Scott. I'll take your advice. I shall neither give up my diapers (my mitt) nor the mall (my ballpark) for many days to come.